A Scenery Post Cards Booklet Of Jesselton

This booklet of postcards was published by S W Singapore pre 1967 as that was the year when Jesselton became Kota Kinabalu. These booklets were probably unpopular and therefore very uncommon to be found intact nowadays. I deduce this from the fact that it is uncommon to come across a postcard from this series with a serrated edge.

Unfortunately, the front of the booklet was severely damaged. It shows the waterfront of Jesselton. 

This is the front and back of each card in this booklet. It has a recording stub with a  corresponding miniature copy of the postcard on the the other side. This is the format for the whole booklet. 

Bird's eye view of Jesselton                              J 2651 

"Picture shows a panoramic view of the city and the waterfront".

This is the picture used at the front of this booklet.

Waterfront Jesselton - Sabah                                J No. 912

"Picture shows the water-front of Jesselton where most of the big trading concerns are located".

Harbour Board Jesselton-Sabah                             J No. 913

"Picture shows the Harbour of Jesselton where most of the Ocean ships unload & load their cargoes on its jetty."

From here, I can not scan the whole length of the paper apart from dismantling this booklet and so only part of the stub is shown. 

Street Scene Jesselton - Sabah                              J No. 914

"Picture shows the main thoroughfare of Jesselton where most the commercial houses are located" 

This is not Gaya Street, looks more like Beach Street.
 

The Sports Club Jesselton - Sabah                           J No. 915

"Picture shows the Sports Club of Jesselton where most of the sports and various kinds of games are held"

Native House Jesselton - Sabah                               J No. 916

"Picture shows a native house in the remote areas of Jesselton , the house is built of attap and bamboo."

Houses on stilts Jesselton - Sabah                          J No. 917
"Picture shows houses built on stilts near the sea shore of Jesselton, middle class workers live in these houses, it is a quiet and healthy place to reside."

Well, standards and expectations have really changed.

This was obviously a popular card as there are two copies in the booklet.

The Sea Side Jesselton                                      J 3031

"A beautiful view of the seaside of Jesselton, with its sandy beach, a very popular place for pinickers"

Undoubtedly, this was Tanjong Aru Beach in its heyday. How the times and the situation has changed.

This card and the one showing the bird's eye view of Jesselton are from an older series with a different format of J numbers. J obviously represent Jesselton. S W Singapore uses this system for cards from other towns and locations as well.

Malaysia Memorial Arch                                    J No. 920

"Picture shows a memorial arch in Jesselton commemorating Malaysia"

This is the back of the booklet.

Unfortunately, this memorial represent an event in Sabah's history which has lead to a lot of questions and soul searching. It was the period when Sabah ceased to a colony of Great Britain but unknowingly became a vassal state of another nation.

  

Papar post office

As a settlement, Papar clearly predated Jesselton. Even though it had a district office, the post office was not opened until 1949. Prior to that the mail services were well served by the Travelling Post Office as the train on the west coast passes by the town.

This is a nice cover with Papar D1 in black. It is more often in violet. There are a few philatelic covers like this with the 1949 UPU set. This date was in use between September 1949 and May 1950. It is characterised by wavy lines in the two rings as a result of damage and distortion.

Examples of Papar D1 in black and violet

          D1 in violet on piece

With time, this rubber hand-stamp deteriorated probably as a result of using the wrong solvent cleaner and gave rise to this unclear cancellation.

With the D1 hand-stamp getting damaged to the point of giving a very poor and unclear impression, a new date stamp was introduced in May 1950 and used until July 1951. This is yet another temporary rubber hand-stamp. I find the above cover very attractive with red Chinese characters. The address of this little known photo studio should of much interest to local historians. This is what one would describe as a well constructed cover in that most of the spaces on the envelope were suitably occupied. Blank spaces are not attractive. Papar D2 is in violet and I have not seen it in black.

Papar D2 on piece

Another two other items with D2

This is Papar D4 (June 61-September 63). This is a star cancel and quite uncommon on cover. This item had suffered some water staining but is still quite attractive with a plethora of cancellations from Papar, Jesselton, Singapore and Penang.

Papar D3

Papar D4